GATINEAU-Canada defeated the Dominican Republic in straight sets on Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the NORCECA junior men’s volleyball championships. Now they must challenge the sport’s sharks to win a medal and gain a berth at next year’s world junior championships.

The impressive Canadians, a team that was formed a mere month ago, took the match 25-19, 25-15, 25-19. Next is powerhouse Cuba on Friday at 8 p.m. in one semifinal while the U.S., tackles Puerto Rico in the other at 6 p.m. Both matches are at the Centre Sportif in Gatineau.

“We came in with a good plan and executed quite well,” said Canada’s head coach Greg Barthel of Regina, whose troops are 3-0 overall so far. “We were more disciplined and served better. We’re improving day by day and I think if we continue that rise we’ll continue to be effective.”

Justin Olmstead of Edmonton led the Canadians with 14 points while Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke added 12 and Matthew Schriemer of Winnipeg 11.

Cuba is the top-ranked junior team here at number-seven in the world, while the Canadians are ranked 23rd at the junior level.

“We haven’t looked at Cuba too much because we are going game-by-game,” said Barthel. “But for sure we are going to have to be really disciplined and play together as a group to be successful.”

“They’ll be a more physical team with more height than any other we’ve faced so far,” added Canadian team captain Tristan Aubry of Edmonton. “We strive to play as a team and execute our game plans.”

The Dominicans were not totally satisfied with the outcome.

“I’m not happy but not disappointed either,” said the Dominican’s head coach Osiel Vasquez Cancio. “It’s a young team. We needed to fight more and we made too many errors. We didn’t play at the level we are use to.”

Jose Castillo was the Dominican’s top scorer with 10 points.

“Our expectations were a bit higher and the result wasn’t what we wanted,” said the Dominican Republic’s captain Miguel Vargas.

“We started very slow,” said Puerto Rico’s team captain Ramon Burgos. “In the third set we said to each other that we didn’t come here to lose at this point and we made the necessary adjustments. In the fifth set it was all us and we played really good. It was a great game for both teams but in the end someone has to lose.”

‘’To win two matches here, we are proud of ourselves,’’ said Vargas. ‘’This victory is for the players and all of Honduras. We plan to give everything we have against Guatemala.’’

Martinique continued be a pesky opponent and were competitive in every set. Still, coach Eddy Salomon felt the result could have been more impressive.

‘’I am bit disappointed because our guys didn’t play up to their potential,’’ said Salomon. ‘’I think they are starting to feel some fatigue and getting ready for a big tournament is something we need to work on more.’’

Guatemala doesn’t slow down in consolation playoff at NORCECA championships

GATINEAU - After an impressive showing in their two round robin losses, Guatemala kept its pedal to the floor on Thursday defeating St. Lucia 25-12, 25-9, 25-10 in a consolation quarterfinal at the NORCECA junior men’s volleyball championships.

Team captain Jeyson Fernando Nery Flores led the Guatemalan attack with 19 points while Luis Augusto Garcia Betancourt added 12. Guatemala will play the winner of the second consolation quarterfinal between Honduras and Martinique for seventh place on Friday.

“We were expecting to be among the six finalists in this tournament but our players found a way to play with a lot of energy today,” said Guatemala’s head coach William Fernandez Pizat.

“We were at the top of our game today,” added Flores. “We came to win and we are happy with the result.”

For St.Lucia it was another opportunity to gain experience. It is the nation’s first participation at the tournament. Julian Bissette once again starred for St. Lucia scoring six points. St. Lucia will battle the loser of the other quarter for ninth spot on Friday.